Amy K. Swinford, DVM, MS, Diplomate (Emeritus) ACVM, is director of the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory. Dr. Swinford is a four-time graduate of the University of Illinois, earning bachelor’s degrees in both microbiology and veterinary science, a DVM, and a master’s degree in veterinary pathobiology. She became a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Microbiologists in 1997. She started her career as a diagnostic virologist at the University of Nebraska Veterinary Diagnostic Center in Lincoln, studying pseudorabies virus and what was then a recently discovered disease, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS). During this time, Dr. Swinford also served as a public health officer in the United States Air Force Reserve.

In 2005, Dr. Swinford joined the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) as section head of diagnostic bacteriology/mycology. She also enjoyed collaborative research, and serving as an adjunct assistant professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University, where she delivered lectures in veterinary microbiology and infectious disease to first through third-year veterinary students.

Dr. Swinford became TVMDL’s microbiology branch chief in 2012, overseeing the bacteriology, virology, serology, and molecular diagnostics sections. As branch chief, she provided leadership, oversaw stringent quality assurance and safety programs, and implemented new testing protocols. She became particularly interested in the quality assurance standards that applied to veterinary diagnostic laboratories, which led her to join the AAVLD Accreditation Committee’s Auditor Pool, and ultimately the AAVLD Accreditation Committee. She enjoyed many years serving on the Committee, auditing AAVLD laboratories, and seeing the AAVLD Accreditation Program Standard in action as it enhanced the quality of veterinary diagnostics across the United States.

Dr. Swinford became associate director of TVMDL in 2015 and was appointed TVMDL’s sixth agency director in 2021. During her tenure, Dr. Swinford coordinated TVMDL’s responses to numerous disease outbreaks such as vesicular stomatitis, contagious equine metritis, anthrax, chronic wasting disease, highly pathogenic avian influenza, and SARS-CoV-2. She helped implement TVMDL’s testing of human patients for SARS-CoV-2 during the COVID-19 pandemic and guided her laboratory’s response to the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in dairy cattle, first discovered in the Texas Panhandle in 2024.

Dr. Swinford has been recognized with awards from the Texas A&M University System, including the TVMDL Director’s Excellence Award, three Vice Chancellor’s Awards in Excellence, and the Texas A&M System Regents Fellow Service Award. On November 13, 2025, the Texas A&M System Board of Regents bestowed the title of director emeritus in recognition of Dr. Swinford’s 20-plus years of dedicated service to TVMDL and its clients.  

Dr. Swinford has been an active member of AAVLD since 1992, attending her first AAVLD/USAHA Annual Meeting in 1993 in Las Vegas, Nevada. She’s had the privilege of serving on numerous committees, including Accreditation, Subcommittee on Bacteriology and Mycology, Subcommittee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing, Membership, Government Relations, Laboratory Directors, Strategic Planning, AAVLD/USAHA Joint Committee on the NAHLN, AAVLD Committee Chairs and Program Committee, AAVLD House of Delegates, and the AAVLD Executive Board.  

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2026 Plenary Speakers